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+<com:TContent ID="body">
+<h1>The Big Picture</h1>
+<p>SQLMap is a simple but complete framework that makes it easy for you to map
+your objects to your SQL statements or stored procedures. The goal of the
+SQLMap framework is to obtain 80% of data access functionality using only
+20% of the code.</p>
+
+<h1>What does it do?</h1>
+<p>Developers often create maps between objects within an application. One
+definition of a Mapper is an "object that sets up communication between two
+independent objects." A Data Mapper is a "layer of mappers that moves data
+between objects and a database while keeping them independent of each other
+and the mapper itself." [Patterns of Enterprise Architecture, ISBN
+0-321-12742-0].</p>
+
+<p>You provide the database and the objects; SQLMap provides the mapping layer
+that goes between the two.</p>
+
+<h1>How does it work?</h1>
+
+<p>Your programming platform already provides a capable library for accessing
+databases, whether through SQL statements or stored procedures. But developers
+find several things are still hard to do well when using "stock" PHP
+function including:</p>
+
+<p>Separating SQL code from programming code Passing input parameters to the
+library classes and extracting the output Separating data access classes from
+business logic classes Caching often-used data until it changes Managing
+transactions and many more -- by using XML documents to create a mapping
+between a plain-old object and a SQL statement or a stored procedure. The
+"plain-old object" can be any PHP object.</p>
+
+<p class="tip"><b class="tip">Tip:</b>
+The object does not need to be part of a special object hierarchy or implement
+a special interface. (Which is why we call them "plain-old" objects.)
+Whatever you are already using should work just fine.
+</p>
+
+<img src=<%~ diagram.png %> alt="SQLMap DataMapper work flow" id="fig:diagram.png" class="figure"/>
+<div class="caption"><b>Figure 1:</b> SQLMap DataMapper work flow</div>
+
+<p>Here's a high level description of the work flow shown in the figure above:
+Provide a parameter, either as an object or a
+primitive type. The parameter can be used to set runtime values in your SQL
+statement or stored procedure. If a runtime value is not needed, the parameter
+can be omitted.</p>
+
+<p>Execute the mapping by passing the parameter and the name you gave the
+statement or procedure in your XML descriptor. This step is where the magic
+happens. The framework will prepare the SQL statement or stored procedure, set
+any runtime values using your parameter, execute the procedure or statement,
+and return the result.</p>
+
+<p>In the case of an update, the number of rows affected is returned. In the case
+of a query, a single object, or a collection of objects is returned. Like the
+parameter, the result object, or collection of objects, can be a plain-old
+object or a primitive type.</p>
+
+<p>So, what does all this look like in your source code? Here's how you might
+code the insert of a "lineItem" object into your database.</p>
+
+<com:TTextHighlighter Language="php" CssClass="source">
+TMapper::instance()->insert("InsertLineItem", $lineItem);
+</com:TTextHighlighter>
+
+<p>If your database is generating the primary keys, the generated key can be
+returned from the same method call, like this:</p>
+
+<com:TTextHighlighter Language="php" CssClass="source">
+$myKey = TMapper::instance()->insert("InsertLineItem", $lineItem);
+</com:TTextHighlighter>
+
+<p>The following example shows an XML descriptor for "InsertLineItem".
+<com:TTextHighlighter Language="xml" CssClass="source">
+<insert id="InsertLineItem" parameterClass="LineItem">
+ INSERT INTO [LinesItem]
+ (Order_Id, LineItem_LineNum, Item_Id, LineItem_Quantity, LineItem_UnitPrice)
+ VALUES
+ (#Order.Id#, #LineNumber#, #Item.Id#, #Quantity#, #Item.ListPrice#)
+ <selectKey type="post" resultClass="int" property="Id" >
+ select @@IDENTITY as value
+ </selectKey>
+</insert>
+</com:TTextHighlighter>
+</p>
+
+<p>The <tt>&lt;selectKey&gt;</tt> stanza returns an auto-generated key from a SQL Server
+database (for example). If you need to select multiple rows, SQLMap can return
+a list of objects, each mapped to a row in the result set:
+<com:TTextHighlighter Language="php" CssClass="source">
+$productList = Mapper::instance()->queryForList("selectProduct",$categoryKey);
+</com:TTextHighlighter>
+Or just one, if that's all you need:
+<com:TTextHighlighter Language="php" CssClass="source">
+$product = Mapper::instance()->queryForObject("selectProduct",$categoryKey);
+</com:TTextHighlighter>
+</p>
+
+<p>Of course, there's more, but this is SQLMap from 10,000 meters. (For a longer,
+gentler introduction, see the <a href="?page=Tutorial.TestFirst">Tutorial</a>.)
+The <a href=" ?page=Manual.DataMapperConfiguration">Data Map definition</a> files describes
+where the statement for "InsertLineItem" would
+be defined. The <a href="?page=Manual.Installing">Installation and Setup</a> section describes
+the "bootstrap" configuration file that exposes SQLMap to your application.</p>
+
+<h1>Is SQLMap the best choice for my project?</h1>
+<p>SQLMap is a Data Mapping tool. Its role is to map the columns of a database
+query (including a stored procedure) to the properties of an object. If your
+application is based on business objects (including array or lists of
+objects), then SQLMap can be a good choice. SQLMap is an even better choice
+when your application is layered, so that that the business layer is distinct
+from the user-interface layer.</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances, another good choice would be an Object/Relational
+Mapping tool (OR/M tool), like [...]. Other products in this category are
+[...] and [...] . An OR/M tool generates all or most of the SQL for you,
+either beforehand or at runtime. These products are called OR/M tools because
+they try to map an object graph to a relational schema.</p>
+
+<p>SQLMap is not an OR/M tool. SQLMap helps you map objects to stored procedures
+or SQL statements. The underlying schema is irrelevant. An OR/M tool is great
+if you can map your objects to tables. But they are not so great if your
+objects are stored as a relational view rather than as a table. If you can
+write a statement or procedure that exposes the columns for your object,
+regardless of how they are stored, SQLMap can do the rest.</p>
+
+<p>So, how do you decide whether to OR/M or to DataMap? As always, the best
+advice is to implement a representative part of your project using either
+approach, and then decide. But, in general, OR/M is a good thing when you
+<ul>
+ <li>Have complete control over your database implementation.</li>
+ <li>Do not have a Database Administrator or SQL guru on the team.</li>
+ <li>Need to model the problem domain outside the database as an object graph.</li>
+</ul>
+Likewise, the best time to use a Data Mapper, like SQLMap, is when:
+<ul>
+ <li>You do not have complete control over the database implementation, or want to
+continue to access a legacy database as it is being refactored.</li>
+ <li>You have database administrators or SQL gurus on the team.</li>
+ <li>The database is being used to model the problem domain, and the application's
+primary role is to help the client use the database model.</li>
+</ul>
+</p>
+
+<p>In the end, you have to decide what's best for your project. If a OR/M tool
+works better for you, that's great! If your next project has different needs,
+then we hope you give SQLMap another look. If SQLMap works for you now:
+Excellent!</p>
+
+
+</com:TContent> \ No newline at end of file